


Amidst the Ruins of Her Destruction

by M4R4N14MH



Series: For All Time and Space [3]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: And I really wanted to give God at least SOME lines, Comfort, Decisions, Difficult Decisions, Existentialism, Gen, God and Death have a bit of a chat, God is mysterious, I just felt a bit profound today, Look I made it fancier, Mother-Son Relationship, Regret, That's it, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Author is really running out of tags here, Wow, is that really a tag?, take from this what you will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27073459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M4R4N14MH/pseuds/M4R4N14MH
Summary: Death meets up with someone at the nowveryruined Tower of Babel.(This will make very little sense if you haven't checked out 'The Time Before'. To be honest it really makes no sense anyway, but some context might help a smidge.)
Relationships: Death & God (Good Omens)
Series: For All Time and Space [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957642
Comments: 32
Kudos: 14





	Amidst the Ruins of Her Destruction

The wind whispered through his cloak as he moved, bringing with it the stirrings of stale dust and parched bone. Melted marble jutted up at odd angles from the sand, some still stained with bleached splashes of rust-red. A graveyard atop a graveyard.

It stood before him; a great, broken wedge pointing into the sky.

Once it had shone bright in the merciless sun, now it was blackened and withered. A heart that had finally stopped beating long after its city had burned.

He could sense much in this place.

Fear and hope. Relief and anger. Betrayal and determination.

But something could be felt beyond all that. A Presence, one that burned bright like a beacon and yet was as weak as a dying star.

It shivered in place as he moved, standing a respectful distance away.

She was in mourning.

He could tell.

What exactly She mourned was not clear though he could easily guess.

The air was awash with regret.

Sucking in a rattling breath past a lip-less mouth, he moved slightly closer, extending his ebony wing the rest of the way.

It was a gesture of comfort more ancient than Earth itself. He remembered watching other angels do it Before, extending their wings when a companion felt lost. When they felt overwhelmed. He’d probably see it again at some point, in between his endless duties, with everything that had happened recently. With the Reunification.

She had never needed it before though, She had always been slightly distant, so assured and so utterly unneeding of any sort of comfort. He supposed he never expected to offer it either but it was not an unwelcome change in their ancient dynamic.

She turned, though She still faced the Tower.

He inclined his head respectfully, his hood sliding a little over his bony forehead.

“HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE?” He asked, his raspy voice softer than a whisper, so soft it sounded as though he were merely sighing. There was no need to be loud, She would hear either way.

“ **Much too long and not long enough** ,” She replied, cryptically, Her voice as soft as his. If he possessed the ability to smile, he would have. Nostalgia was nothing new to him, given his rather self-reflective role, and it was pleasing to know that not  _ everything _ had changed in this suddenly new and exciting Universe where Plans could be subverted and hostilities ended. Some things just stayed the same, no matter what.

He nodded and turned to face the Tower himself, keeping his wing extended.

“HAVE YOU RETURNED?” He asked after a few peaceful moments, not quite sure if he actually wanted the answer.

“ **No, I am not needed** ,” She replied, sounding at once elated and deeply saddened by Her own words. He let his wing brush Her again, shuddering when the contact sent electricity racing down the limb and across his bones, sparking between the gaps and making the dry air smell like ozone.

“SHALL I STAY?” He asked, after the quiet stretched for a beat too long.

She turned again and if he could have done so, he would have blinked as a small echo of Her faraway power washed over him for just the barest second. It felt like home, like the Beginning and the End and everything in between. Suddenly he could feel Time’s hands on his own again, he could hear Love’s laughter in his non-existent ears. Everything and anything, all of Her Universe opened up like a flower, like a beckoning hand; then the sensation vanished. Leaving behind only echoes and that pleasant tingling in his bones. 

He liked to think She smiled.

“ **No. You** **_are_ ** **needed, Azrael. And you have no more need of me** .”

He wanted to protest but he knew he would be wrong to do so. Her sorrow was palpable. Her decision was clearly made.

He spent a few more moments simply drinking in Her presence, letting it warm the old bones beneath the creaking black cloth. It was a feeling he had been born to, one that never truly left as he had lived through the ages, always whispering in his bones, reassuring in its steadiness—though it always remained a  _ silent _ comfort.

Then he turned, brushing his wing one last time against Her, committing that unforgettable shudder to his unending memory.

He paused for a moment, a small part of him acknowledging that perhaps this would be the last time, the very last time. So, still quiet, still soft, he said, “FAREWELL, MOTHER.”

The beat of his wings was as soft as the whispering wind and, as they moved steadily away, they faded ever so gently into nothing.

She watched him leave, memorising every last detail, for it would be the last time. 

Then She smiled, “ **Farewell, my son**.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically what happens when I'm feeling profound and I have a hankering to write some cryptic shit.  
> I promise that the other oneshots in this series will _actually_ have a plot, its just that this one has been sitting in my notes and I had a spare minute so I decided to share.  
> I also low-key really like Azrael/Death and I am really upset that I only managed to include him once in The Time Before, so this is me filling a wee bit of that craving.
> 
> Take from this mess what you will, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)  
> Thanks for reading!


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